Berry Global Group Inc (BERY) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Second Quarter 2023 Berry Global Group Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Berry Global Group 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Dustin Stilwell. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者達斯汀·史迪威 (Dustin Stilwell)。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Berry's Second Fiscal Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Throughout this call, we will refer to the second fiscal quarter as the March 2023 quarter.

謝謝大家，早上好。歡迎來到 Berry 的 2023 財年第二季度財報電話會議。在整個電話會議中，我們將第二財季稱為 2023 年 3 月季度。

Before we begin our call, I would like to mention that on our website, we have provided a slide presentation to help guide our discussion this morning. After today's call, a replay will also be available on our website at berryglobal.com under our Investor Relations section.

在我們開始通話之前，我想提一下，在我們的網站上，我們提供了一個幻燈片演示來幫助指導我們今天上午的討論。在今天的電話會議之後，重播也將在我們網站 berryglobal.com 的投資者關係部分下提供。

Joining me from the company, I have Berry's Chief Executive Officer, Tom Salmon; and Chief Financial Officer, Mark Miles. Following Tom and Mark's comments today, we will have a question-and-answer session. In order to allow everyone the opportunity to participate, we do ask that you limit yourself to 1 question at a time and then fall back into the queue for any additional questions.

從公司加入我的是 Berry 的首席執行官 Tom Salmon；和首席財務官 Mark Miles。在 Tom 和 Mark 今天的評論之後，我們將進行問答環節。為了讓每個人都有機會參與，我們確實要求您一次只回答 1 個問題，然後再回到隊列中回答任何其他問題。

As referenced on Slide 2, during this call, we'll be discussing some non-GAAP financial measures. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of the differences between the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are available in our earnings release and investor presentation on our website. Please note that in our commentary today and within our presentation, when we compare our results to the prior year quarter or full year, we have adjusted to present on a constant currency basis and remove the impact of divested businesses to provide the appropriate comparable results. Reconciliations to reported results have been provided in our earnings release and in the appendix of our presentation.

如幻燈片 2 所述，在本次電話會議期間，我們將討論一些非 GAAP 財務指標。最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施以及 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務措施之間差異的調節可在我們網站上的收益發布和投資者介紹中找到。請注意，在我們今天的評論和我們的演示文稿中，當我們將我們的結果與上一季度或全年進行比較時，我們已經調整為以固定貨幣為基礎呈現並消除剝離業務的影響以提供適當的可比結果。我們的收益發布和演示文稿的附錄中提供了與報告結果的對賬。

And finally, a reminder that certain statements made today may be forward-looking statements. These statements are made based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company and therefore, involve a number of uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to those described in our earnings release, annual report on Form 10-K and other filings within the SEC. Therefore, the actual results of operations or financial condition of the company could differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements.

最後，提醒您今天所做的某些聲明可能是前瞻性聲明。這些陳述是根據管理層對影響公司的未來事件的預期和信念作出的，因此涉及許多不確定性和風險，包括但不限於我們的收益發布、10-K 表格年度報告和其他文件中描述的那些在美國證券交易委員會內。因此，公司的實際經營業績或財務狀況可能與我們的前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。

And now I would like to turn the call over to Berry's CEO, Tom Salmon.

現在我想把電話轉給貝瑞的首席執行官湯姆薩蒙。

Thank you, Dustin. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for being with us today. Turning to our key takeaways for the quarter on Slide 4. Our business delivered solid second quarter and first half results with adjusted earnings per share growth of 4% and 7%, respectively. For the past several quarters, we have seen supply chain constraints continue to ease in a prioritized structural cost reductions and improved our mix of high-value growth products.

謝謝你，達斯汀。歡迎大家，感謝你們今天和我們在一起。轉向幻燈片 4 本季度的主要收穫。我們的業務在第二季度和上半年取得了穩健的業績，調整後的每股收益分別增長了 4% 和 7%。在過去的幾個季度中，我們看到供應鏈限制在優先結構性成本削減和改善高價值增長產品組合方面繼續得到緩解。

Throughout the last several years, we've made concentrated investments to pivot our portfolio into higher-growth markets in several areas such as food service, health and beauty, dispensing and pharmaceutical markets, including sustainability-focused customer-linked projects. Furthermore, we continue our focus on returning capital to shareholders. In the first half of this fiscal year, we have repurchased over 5.5 million shares or 4.4% of our total shares outstanding and continue to expect share repurchases of $600 million or more in fiscal 2023.

在過去的幾年裡，我們進行了集中投資，將我們的投資組合轉向食品服務、健康和美容、配藥和製藥市場等多個領域的高增長市場，包括以可持續發展為重點的客戶相關項目。此外，我們繼續專注於向股東返還資本。在本財年上半年，我們回購了超過 550 萬股股票，占我們已發行股票總數的 4.4%，並繼續預計 2023 財年的股票回購額將達到 6 億美元或更多。

As we stated last call, we have continued our commitment to strengthening our balance sheet by further lowering our long-term leverage target to 2.5x to 3.5x. We expect to be at 3.7x at the end of fiscal '23 and within our new target range by the end of fiscal '24. And finally, we believe 2023 will see a challenging overall market demand. In turn, we're making long-lasting structural cost improvements, while advancing our strategic initiatives to exit 2023 a much stronger and more focused company. We remain confident in our ability to sustain earnings growth and are reaffirming our earnings and cash flow guidance for the year.

正如我們在上次電話會議中所說，我們通過進一步將長期槓桿率目標降低至 2.5 倍至 3.5 倍，繼續致力於加強我們的資產負債表。我們預計在 23 財年末達到 3.7 倍，並在 24 財年末處於我們的新目標範圍內。最後，我們認為 2023 年整體市場需求將充滿挑戰。反過來，我們正在進行持久的結構性成本改進，同時推進我們的戰略計劃，以期在 2023 年成為一家更強大、更專注的公司。我們對維持盈利增長的能力充滿信心，並重申我們今年的盈利和現金流指引。

Turning now to the financial highlights on Slide 5. The March 2023 quarter performance for both earnings per share and EBITDA were ahead of our expectations, including strong price/cost spread from inflation recovery, cost reduction and mix improvements. These internally driven actions were partially offset by a 6% volume decline from weaker end market demand, which was in line with what our global customers have reported thus far. Demand in the quarter has been negatively impacted by price inflation on consumer purchases, destocking in small pockets of continued supply chain issues.

現在轉到幻燈片 5 的財務亮點。2023 年 3 月季度的每股收益和 EBITDA 表現均超出我們的預期，包括通脹復甦帶來的強勁價格/成本價差、成本降低和組合改善。這些內部驅動的行動被終端市場需求疲軟導致的 6% 銷量下降部分抵消，這與我們全球客戶迄今為止報告的情況一致。本季度的需求受到消費者購買價格上漲的負面影響，持續供應鏈問題的小部分去庫存。

From an earnings perspective, for the comparable prior year quarter and half, EBIT was up 1% and 2%, respectively, and EPS increased 4% and 7%, respectively. Additionally, we delivered sequential EBIT improvement from Q1 of over $100 million with 3 of our 4 segments generating significant improvement, while EPS grew 50% sequentially. As we've demonstrated historically and during the most recent quarter, we remain committed to driving cost improvements, passing through inflation and believe we are well positioned given our scale, along with our ability to service our customers from our facilities in close proximity to their locations providing both cost and sustainability advantages.

從收益的角度來看，與去年同期相比，息稅前利潤分別增長 1% 和 2%，每股收益分別增長 4% 和 7%。此外，從第一季度開始，我們實現了超過 1 億美元的連續 EBIT 改善，其中 4 個部門中的 3 個產生了顯著改善，而 EPS 連續增長了 50%。正如我們在歷史上和最近一個季度所展示的那樣，我們仍然致力於推動成本改善，通過通貨膨脹，並相信我們的規模以及我們通過靠近客戶的設施為客戶提供服務的能力處於有利地位提供成本和可持續性優勢的地點。

During the quarter, we performed well, delivering strong operational performance and took additional actions to reduce our cost structure, optimize our assets and further automate our facility, which will bring our total annual savings from recent cost initiatives to $115 million, $70 million of which will be realized in fiscal '23. In line with our long-term strategy to provide strong capital returns to our shareholders, we have returned nearly $400 million to shareholders through both share repurchases and dividends in the first half of fiscal '23.

在本季度，我們表現良好，提供了強勁的運營績效，並採取了額外的措施來降低我們的成本結構、優化我們的資產並進一步自動化我們的設施，這將使我們從最近的成本計劃中每年節省的總額達到 1.15 億美元，其中 7000 萬美元將在 23 財年實現。根據我們為股東提供強勁資本回報的長期戰略，我們在 23 財年上半年通過股票回購和派息向股東返還了近 4 億美元。

Before I hand over to Mark, I want to review Slide 6 and what we continue to focus on in both the near and long term. We remain focused on driving consistent, dependable and sustainable organic growth and continue to invest in each of our businesses to build and maintain our world-class low-cost manufacturing base with an emphasis on key end markets, which offer greater potential for differentiation and long-term growth, such as health care, personal care, beauty and food service markets. We've grown these select markets over the past 10 years from 20% to now more than 30% of our portfolio.

在我交給馬克之前，我想回顧一下幻燈片 6 以及我們在近期和長期繼續關注的內容。我們仍然專注於推動一致、可靠和可持續的有機增長，並繼續投資於我們的每一項業務，以建立和維護我們世界級的低成本製造基地，重點是關鍵的終端市場，這些市場提供更大的差異化潛力和長期發展- 長期增長，如醫療保健、個人護理、美容和食品服務市場。在過去的 10 年裡，我們已經將這些精選市場從占我們投資組合的 20% 增加到現在的 30% 以上。

Additionally, we will continue to invest and expand our emerging market position in support of our commitment to global growth. Longer term, we are committed to growing our businesses in these regions and believe our emerging market presence can be 25% or more of our total company revenues.

此外，我們將繼續投資並擴大我們在新興市場的地位，以支持我們對全球增長的承諾。從長遠來看，我們致力於在這些地區發展我們的業務，並相信我們在新興市場的影響力可以占我們公司總收入的 25% 或更多。

And lastly, innovation and sustainability are increasingly embedded in everything we do, and we continue to believe this represents a great opportunity for growth and differentiation. We continue to grow the number of sustainability-focused products, meeting our customers' needs and expectations. We have grown our total sustainable polymer purchases by nearly 70% over the past several years with the expected growth rate of 20% to get us to 30% circular materials by 2030. These drivers, when combined with our ability to deliver continued cost improvement by leveraging our scale advantages and capability gives us great confidence we will continue to consistently deliver solid earnings growth from our stable portfolio of businesses.

最後，創新和可持續性越來越多地融入我們所做的一切，我們仍然相信這是實現增長和差異化的絕佳機會。我們繼續增加以可持續發展為重點的產品數量，以滿足客戶的需求和期望。在過去幾年中，我們的可持續聚合物採購總量增長了近 70%，預計到 2030 年，我們將以 20% 的增長率實現 30% 的循環材料採購。這些驅動因素與我們通過以下方式持續降低成本的能力相結合利用我們的規模優勢和能力使我們充滿信心，我們將繼續從我們穩定的業務組合中持續實現穩健的收益增長。

Now I'll turn the call over to Mark, who will review Berry's financial results. Mark?

現在我將把電話轉給馬克，他將審查 Berry 的財務業績。標記？

Thank you, Tom. Our businesses continue to perform well and focus on price recovery and generating cost productivity, while driving long-term sustainable revenue and earnings growth. Overall, as Tom referenced earlier, we delivered sequential EBITDA improvement in Q2 from Q1 of approximately $100 million, with 3 of the 4 segments generating significant improvement.

謝謝你，湯姆。我們的業務繼續表現良好，專注於價格回升和產生成本生產力，同時推動長期可持續的收入和盈利增長。總體而言，正如湯姆之前提到的那樣，我們在第二季度的 EBITDA 比第一季度連續改善了約 1 億美元，其中 4 個部分中的 3 個產生了顯著改善。

I'd like to refer everyone to Slide 7 for our quarterly performance by each of our 4 operating segments. The segment review will focus on the year-over-year changes for Q2. Our Consumer Packaging International division reported 2% higher revenue dollars driven by higher pricing from the pass-through of inflation in Europe and improved product mix to higher-value products, partially offset by softer demand. EBITDA was up 5%, driven by our cost reduction efforts along with improved product mix by increasing our presence in health care packaging, pharmaceutical devices and dispensing systems. We continue to recover cost inflation through pricing actions and cost reduction initiatives, while driving revenue growth from our sustainability and leadership.

我想請大家參考幻燈片 7，了解我們 4 個運營部門的季度業績。分部審查將重點關注第二季度的同比變化。我們的消費品包裝國際部門報告稱，由於歐洲通貨膨脹帶來的更高定價以及產品組合向更高價值產品的改進，收入增長了 2%，部分被需求疲軟所抵消。 EBITDA 增長了 5%，這得益於我們降低成本的努力以及通過增加我們在醫療保健包裝、製藥設備和分配系統方面的影響力來改善產品組合。我們繼續通過定價行動和降低成本的舉措來恢復成本膨脹，同時通過我們的可持續性和領導力推動收入增長。

Next, on Slide 8, revenue in our Consumer Packaging North America division was down 10% from the prior year quarter, primarily from lower selling prices as a result of the pass-through of lower resin costs in the U.S. and softer overall demand mainly in our industrial markets. We continue to deliver strong mid-single-digit growth in our foodservice market as we continue to see conversion from other substrates to our clear polypropylene cup and lids. We continue to add incremental supply for custom lids, including an additional manufacturing location in Florida for this technology as demand for our product continues to outpace our ability to add supply. EBITDA increased by 10% over the prior year quarter, driven by improved cost productivity from structural cost reductions and our focus to higher value products such as foodservice, closures and dispensing systems.

接下來，在幻燈片 8 中，我們的消費品包裝北美分部的收入比去年同期下降了 10%，這主要是由於美國較低的樹脂成本和整體需求疲軟（主要是美國）導致的銷售價格下降我們的工業市場。我們繼續在我們的餐飲服務市場實現強勁的中個位數增長，因為我們繼續看到從其他基材向我們的透明聚丙烯杯和蓋子的轉變。我們繼續增加定制蓋子的增量供應，包括在佛羅里達州為這項技術增加一個製造地點，因為對我們產品的需求繼續超過我們增加供應的能力。 EBITDA 比上一季度增長 10%，這得益於結構性成本降低帶來的成本生產率提高以及我們對餐飲服務、瓶蓋和分配系統等更高價值產品的關注。

On Slide 9, revenue in our Engineered Materials division was down 15% for the quarter, due primarily to lower selling prices from the pass-through of lower resin costs in the U.S. and volume softness primarily in European industrial markets along with customer destocking. Volumes were impacted by our focused effort to mix up in certain categories like consumer and transportation films. Consequently, our sales and advantaged higher-value products has moved from around 25% of Engineered Materials portfolio in 2018 to now 45%. And for the quarter, these categories grew 2%. As a result of these actions, EBITDA was up 9% over the prior year quarter from our focused effort on improving sales mix to higher-value product categories and structural cost reduction initiatives.

在幻燈片 9 中，我們工程材料部門的收入在本季度下降了 15%，這主要是由於美國樹脂成本下降導致銷售價格下降，以及主要是歐洲工業市場的銷量疲軟以及客戶去庫存。銷量受到我們集中精力混合某些類別（如消費和運輸電影）的影響。因此，我們的銷售額和具有優勢的高價值產品佔工程材料產品組合的比例從 2018 年的 25% 左右上升到現在的 45%。本季度，這些類別增長了 2%。由於採取了這些行動，EBITDA 比去年同期增長了 9%，這是因為我們專注於改善銷售組合，轉向更高價值的產品類別和結構性成本削減計劃。

On Slide 10, revenue in our Health, Hygiene and Specialties division was down 17% due to volume declines along with lower selling prices from the pass-through of lower resin costs. The business has continued to see inventory destocking along with softer demand inside many of our specialties markets such as building and construction. EBITDA was down 24% for the quarter, which was roughly in line with our expectation as our improvement initiatives were offset with weaker demand in some of our higher-value specialty markets.

在幻燈片 10 中，我們的健康、衛生和專業部門的收入下降了 17%，原因是銷量下降以及樹脂成本下降導致的銷售價格下降。該業務繼續看到庫存去庫存以及我們許多專業市場（例如建築和建築）內的需求疲軟。本季度 EBITDA 下降了 24%，這大致符合我們的預期，因為我們的改進舉措被一些高價值專業市場的需求疲軟所抵消。

Outside of contractual pass-throughs in the quarter, our selling prices improved sequentially as we continue to recapture inflation on costs other than resin. Overall for the company through the first half of '23, demand was modestly below our expectations. As we stated from the beginning of the year, we will take proactive structural cost reduction actions fell offset. As part of this initiative, we are in the process of rationalizing 15 facilities across the world, moving the business to more efficient cost facilities in addition to other labor cost reductions from improved productivity As Tom mentioned, these cost-saving initiatives are expected to provide annualized cost savings of $115 million, and we expect to realize $70 million of these savings in fiscal '23.

除了本季度的合同轉嫁外，我們的銷售價格連續上漲，因為我們繼續收回樹脂以外成本的通貨膨脹。總體而言，公司在 23 年上半年的需求略低於我們的預期。正如我們從年初所說的那樣，我們將採取積極的結構性成本削減行動來抵消下降。作為該計劃的一部分，我們正在對全球 15 個設施進行合理化改造，將業務轉移到成本更高的設施，此外還通過提高生產力來降低其他勞動力成本正如湯姆所提到的，這些節省成本的計劃有望提供年化成本節省 1.15 億美元，我們預計在 23 財年實現其中 7000 萬美元的節省。

Our fiscal '23 guidance and assumptions are shown on Slide 11. Today, we are reaffirming our guidance for both adjusted EPS and free cash flow. We have a strong record of EPS for us improving every single year as a public company. We continue to expect between $7.30 to $7.80 of adjusted earnings per share, which at the midpoint would be another fiscal year record and our tenth consecutive year of delivering EPS growth. We continue to expect free cash flow to be in the range of $800 million to $900 million with cash from operations of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion less capital expenditures of $600 million. We are reaffirming our free cash guidance in spite of higher interest rates as we took action to increase our fixed rate debt to over 90%.

我們的 23 財年指導和假設顯示在幻燈片 11 中。今天，我們重申我們對調整後每股收益和自由現金流的指導。作為一家上市公司，我們每年都有良好的每股收益記錄。我們繼續預計調整後的每股收益在 7.30 美元至 7.80 美元之間，在中點這將是另一個財政年度記錄，也是我們連續第十年實現每股收益增長。我們繼續預計自由現金流將在 8 億美元至 9 億美元之間，運營現金為 14 億美元至 15 億美元，減去 6 億美元的資本支出。儘管我們採取行動將固定利率債務增加到 90% 以上，但我們重申了我們的自由現金指導，儘管利率較高。

Over the last 4 quarters, we generated record free cash flow of $1.1 billion. At the close of the quarter, we completed a bolt-on acquisition of [Pro Western Plastics] for $88 million, which will be part of our Consumer North America segment. We believe this will provide us growth opportunities for geographical expansion in Canada, where we can further penetrate the market with complementary Berry products. And the Pro Western product portfolio will create additional opportunities within Berry's existing customer base across North America.

在過去的 4 個季度中，我們產生了創紀錄的 11 億美元自由現金流。在本季度末，我們以 8800 萬美元的價格完成了對 [Pro Western Plastics] 的補強收購，這將成為我們北美消費者部門的一部分。我們相信這將為我們在加拿大的地域擴張提供增長機會，我們可以在那里通過互補的 Berry 產品進一步滲透市場。 Pro Western 產品組合將為 Berry 在北美的現有客戶群創造更多機會。

In turn, and we are focused on strategic divestment opportunities. And while we do not have details to share today, we expect this bolt-on opportunity will be fully offset by divestiture proceeds by the end of the calendar year. Our cash flow year in and year out has been a dependable core strength and core value of our company. It provides us the opportunity to invest in our businesses to grow and become more efficient, while returning capital to shareholders.

反過來，我們專注於戰略撤資機會。雖然我們今天沒有詳細信息可以分享，但我們預計到日曆年年底，剝離收益將完全抵消這一補強機會。我們年復一年的現金流一直是我們公司可靠的核心力量和核心價值。它為我們提供了投資於我們的業務以實現增長和提高效率的機會，同時將資本返還給股東。

As you can see on Slide 12, our capital allocation strategy is return-based includes continued investment in growth markets, share repurchases, debt repayment and the growing quarterly cash dividend. In fiscal '23, we expect to return $700 million or more to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends, including further reducing our share by 8% at current valuation levels. During the quarter, we repurchased another $155 million of shares or 2.1% of shares outstanding and paid our quarterly dividend, thus returning $187 million back to our shareholders in the second fiscal quarter.

正如您在幻燈片 12 中看到的那樣，我們的資本配置策略是基於回報的，包括持續投資於增長市場、股票回購、債務償還和不斷增長的季度現金股息。在 23 財年，我們預計將通過股票回購和股息向股東返還 7 億美元或更多，包括在當前估值水平下進一步將我們的股份減少 8%。本季度，我們又回購了 1.55 億美元的股票或 2.1% 的已發行股票並支付了季度股息，從而在第二財季向股東返還了 1.87 億美元。

As Tom mentioned earlier, given our strong dependable cash flow and earnings, we have moved our long-term leverage range down to 2.5x to 3.5x as we continue to focus on driving long-term value for our shareholders. We expect -- (inaudible) end of this fiscal year and within our long-term range by the end of fiscal '24. We believe we are well positioned for continued value creation through both our resilient business model and strategic portfolio management opportunities.

正如湯姆之前提到的，鑑於我們強勁可靠的現金流和收益，我們已將長期槓桿率範圍下調至 2.5 倍至 3.5 倍，因為我們將繼續專注於為股東創造長期價值。我們預計 - （聽不清）本財年結束，並在我們的長期範圍內到 24 財年結束。我們相信，通過我們富有彈性的商業模式和戰略投資組合管理機會，我們已經做好了持續創造價值的準備。

This concludes my financial review, and now I'll turn it back to Tom.

我的財務審查到此結束，現在我將把它轉回給湯姆。

Thank you, Mark. Our business model has proven resilient, including a broad portfolio of consumer staple and industrial package solutions with strong, dependable and stable cash flows to allow us the flexibility to drive strong returns for our shareholders. Our in-house design centers footprint and a build to serve local and regional customers and markets, all while being -- while the top 5 global toolmaker and a top 5 recycler in Europe provides us with scale advantages and differentiation capabilities unmatched by our competitors.

謝謝你，馬克。事實證明，我們的商業模式具有彈性，包括廣泛的消費必需品和工業包裝解決方案組合，具有強大、可靠和穩定的現金流，使我們能夠靈活地為股東帶來豐厚的回報。我們的內部設計中心足跡和構建服務於本地和區域客戶和市場，同時 - 而全球排名前 5 位的工具製造商和歐洲排名前 5 位的回收商為我們提供了競爭對手無法比擬的規模優勢和差異化能力。

As Mark mentioned, we will focus on our internal cost reduction efforts and inflation recovery, while also driving strong cost benefits through efficiencies and asset optimization throughout our global footprint. We believe very stable and dependable portfolio will allow us the ability to provide earnings growth and demand stability as we've historically demonstrated.

正如馬克所提到的，我們將專注於降低內部成本和恢復通貨膨脹，同時通過在全球範圍內提高效率和優化資產來推動強大的成本效益。我們相信，非常穩定和可靠的投資組合將使我們能夠提供收益增長和需求穩定性，正如我們在歷史上所證明的那樣。

As you can see on Slide 13, we have consistently driven top-tier results in nearly all key financial metrics, including strong compounded annual growth rate for revenue, earnings and free cash flow, including growing our adjusted earnings per share every year as a publicly traded company. Our annual adjusted EPS CAGR up 23% from 2015 to '22 holds the leading position amongst our peer set and well above the average CAGR of 10%. We are proud of our consistency to grow annual adjusted EPS every single year through that period. The targets we've set over the past several years, including our focus on driving shareholder value continues to be our top priority. Starting several years ago in each of our 4 segments, we began investing more heavily in growth with the emphasis in faster-growing markets and regions, while working to improve the mix of our product portfolio.

正如您在幻燈片 13 中看到的那樣，我們幾乎在所有關鍵財務指標上都取得了一流的成果，包括強勁的收入、收益和自由現金流的複合年增長率，包括每年增加我們的調整後每股收益作為公開貿易公司。我們的年度調整後每股收益複合年增長率從 2015 年到 22 年增長了 23%，在我們的同行中處於領先地位，遠高於 10% 的平均複合年增長率。我們為在此期間每年調整後的每股收益持續增長而感到自豪。我們在過去幾年設定的目標，包括我們對推動股東價值的關注，仍然是我們的首要任務。幾年前，我們開始在我們的 4 個細分市場中的每一個細分市場中加大投資力度，重點放在增長更快的市場和地區，同時努力改善我們產品組合的組合。

As you can see on Slide 14, we have delivered results at or above the peer average from our strategies. Historically, we have used the majority of our cash to reduce our debt and improve our balance sheet post an attractive acquisition opportunity. Now we chose to make a concentrated effort to keep our leverage in a lower range, while also returning cash to shareholders via share repurchases and a growing quarterly dividend. We believe our new long-term leverage range of 2.5x to 3.5x will further strengthen our balance sheet and be rewarded in the equity market over time and believe these strategies will continue to close our valuation gap, which provides a very attractive opportunity for investment.

正如您在幻燈片 14 中看到的那樣，我們的策略取得了等於或高於同行平均水平的結果。從歷史上看，在有吸引力的收購機會後，我們使用大部分現金來減少債務和改善資產負債表。現在我們選擇集中精力將我們的槓桿率保持在較低的範圍內，同時通過股票回購和不斷增長的季度股息向股東返還現金。我們相信我們新的 2.5 倍至 3.5 倍的長期槓桿範圍將進一步加強我們的資產負債表，並隨著時間的推移在股票市場上獲得回報，我們相信這些策略將繼續縮小我們的估值差距，這提供了一個非常有吸引力的投資機會.

Next on Slide 15. Since the RPC acquisition in mid-2019, over the past 3 years and including our expected use of cash in fiscal '23, we've reduced our net debt by nearly $3 billion. Furthermore, in fiscal 2022 and '23, we have returned over $1.3 billion to shareholders via share repurchases, while also paying our first ever quarterly dividend. These uses of cash from debt reduction, share repurchases and dividend will total $4.3 billion of value returned to shareholders, while growing our adjusted earnings per share more than 70%, since the RPC acquisition.

接下來是幻燈片 15。自 2019 年年中收購 RPC 以來，在過去 3 年中，包括我們在 23 財年的預期現金使用，我們已經將淨債務減少了近 30 億美元。此外，在 2022 財年和 23 財年，我們通過股票回購向股東返還了超過 13 億美元，同時還支付了有史以來的第一個季度股息。這些來自債務減少、股票回購和股息的現金用途將為股東帶來總計 43 億美元的價值回報，同時自收購 RPC 以來，我們調整後的每股收益將增長 70% 以上。

We believe our capital return model underscores our commitment to enhance the long-term value for our stakeholders and the stability and consistency of our portfolio. The RPC acquisition has provided substantial cost and revenue synergies over the past several years and we believe there are additional attractive opportunities ahead. The ability to leverage our combined know-how, including sustainability and innovation, product development technologies has created significant value for shareholders.

我們相信我們的資本回報模型強調了我們致力於提高利益相關者的長期價值以及我們投資組合的穩定性和一致性。 RPC 的收購在過去幾年中提供了可觀的成本和收入協同效應，我們相信未來還有更多有吸引力的機會。利用我們綜合的專業知識，包括可持續性和創新，產品開發技術的能力為股東創造了巨大的價值。

On Slide 16, we are excited to announce the recent open of our Leamington Spa U.K. facility. At this new Berry circular polymers facility, we will deliver Europe's first approved recycled material at scale for contact sensitive applications. Our proprietary Cleanstream technology process will be the world's first closed-loop system to mechanically process, recovered household waste polypropylene back into food-grade packaging.

在幻燈片 16 上，我們很高興地宣布我們英國 Leamington Spa 設施最近開業。在這個新的 Berry 循環聚合物工廠，我們將交付歐洲首個經批准的大規模回收材料，用於接觸敏感應用。我們專有的 Cleanstream 技術工藝將成為世界上第一個將回收的家庭垃圾聚丙烯機械加工成食品級包裝的閉環系統。

Similarly, as you can see on Slide 17, we cut the ribbon on our new state-of-the-art health care manufacturing facility and Global Center of Excellence in Bangalore, India. Our investment in second factory in Bangalore further strengthens our abilities for health care companies with both regional expertise and global capabilities in the development of modern health care solutions. This will help meet demand throughout Asia and beyond for patient-centric health care products.

同樣，正如您在幻燈片 17 中看到的那樣，我們為位於印度班加羅爾的新的最先進的醫療保健製造工廠和全球卓越中心剪彩。我們在班加羅爾的第二家工廠的投資進一步加強了我們在開發現代醫療保健解決方案方面具有區域專業知識和全球能力的醫療保健公司的能力。這將有助於滿足整個亞洲及其他地區對以患者為中心的醫療保健產品的需求。

Among the latest innovations that we manufacture in the factory, is a new Berry breath-actuated inhaler with dose indicator that helps reduce asthma and COPD patient [coordination errors and breathing variability. And the award-winning activated Rispharm recyclable, multi-dose antimicrobial dropper that is designed to help prevent eye infections. These 2 new locations, Leamington Spa and Bangalore along with our incremental savings in our foodservice business located in Florida, gives us confidence and excitement in our growth pipeline heading into 2024.

在我們工廠製造的最新創新產品中，有一款新的 Berry 呼吸驅動吸入器，帶有劑量指示器，有助於減少哮喘和 COPD 患者 [協調錯誤和呼吸變異性。屢獲殊榮的活性 Rispharm 可回收多劑量抗菌滴管旨在幫助預防眼部感染。 Leamington Spa 和班加羅爾這 2 個新地點，以及我們在佛羅里達州餐飲服務業務中的增量節省，讓我們對進入 2024 年的增長渠道充滿信心和興奮。

Next, on Slide 18. We've provided our key investment highlights along with long-term targets for our key metrics. We are a global leader for consumer stable products with a proven history of earnings growth with a sustainability leadership role as 1 of the largest packaging manufacturers in the world. Our long-term targets further validate the consistency and dependability of our model, which includes EBITDA growth of 4% to 6%, EPS growth of 7% to 12% and total shareholder returns of 10% to 15%.

接下來，在幻燈片 18 上。我們提供了我們的主要投資亮點以及我們關鍵指標的長期目標。作為全球最大的包裝製造商之一，我們是消費穩定產品的全球領導者，擁有公認的盈利增長歷史和可持續發展領導者角色。我們的長期目標進一步驗證了我們模型的一致性和可靠性，其中包括 EBITDA 增長 4% 至 6%，EPS 增長 7% 至 12% 以及股東總回報率 10% 至 15%。

As you can see, over the past several years, we have met or exceeded these long-term growth targets and expect to similarly do so going forward. Additionally, we expect our newly initiated dividend to grow annually, and we have updated our long-term leverage target to be in the range of 2.5x to 3x -- 2.5 to 3.5x, which we expect to achieve by the end of fiscal '24. We believe we can achieve these similar metrics, while operating the business with lower leverage and providing consistent capital returns to shareholders.

如您所見，在過去的幾年裡，我們已經達到或超過了這些長期增長目標，並希望在未來同樣如此。此外，我們預計我們新發起的股息每年都會增長，並且我們已將長期槓桿率目標更新為 2.5 至 3 倍 - 2.5 至 3.5 倍，我們預計將在本財年末實現24.我們相信我們可以實現這些類似的指標，同時以較低的槓桿經營業務並為股東提供一致的資本回報。

In summary, in the near term, our entire global team's emphasis on working safely and servicing our customers remains our #1 priority, has made us a stronger, better and safer company. We will continue to operate with agility as we navigate current market dynamics to drive sustainable growth while recapture inflation.

總之，在短期內，我們整個全球團隊對安全工作和服務客戶的重視仍然是我們的第一要務，這使我們成為一家更強大、更好和更安全的公司。我們將繼續靈活運作，駕馭當前的市場動態，以推動可持續增長，同時控制通脹。

The recent creation of our capital allocation committee has been a positive addition to our Board and enlist the full participation of all our directors. As a Board, we continue to evaluate our entire portfolio for ways to maximize shareholder value. As we consider various options, we remain committed to deleveraging our balance sheet, returning cash to shareholders and pursuing attractive growth opportunities across our entire portfolio.

我們最近成立的資本分配委員會對我們的董事會來說是一個積極的補充，並爭取我們所有董事的充分參與。作為董事會，我們繼續評估我們的整個投資組合，以尋找最大化股東價值的方法。在我們考慮各種選擇時，我們仍然致力於去槓桿化我們的資產負債表，向股東返還現金，並在我們的整個投資組合中尋求有吸引力的增長機會。

And finally, as you can see on Slide 19, our business model is predicated on consistent and dependable free cash flow. We believe our strong cash generation provides us the ability to continue to drive strong returns for our shareholders through 4 key areas, including: First, utilizing our broad global portfolio, which provides us access to large global companies and faster-growing emerging markets. Second, we have an abundance of investment opportunities in high-value attractive end markets such as health care, food service and beauty, along with a leadership position in sustainability led product offerings.

最後，正如您在幻燈片 19 中看到的那樣，我們的業務模型基於一致且可靠的自由現金流。我們相信，我們強大的現金生成能力使我們能夠通過 4 個關鍵領域繼續為股東帶來豐厚的回報，包括：首先，利用我們廣泛的全球投資組合，這使我們能夠接觸到大型全球公司和增長更快的新興市場。其次，我們在醫療保健、食品服務和美容等高價值、有吸引力的終端市場擁有大量投資機會，並且在可持續發展主導的產品供應方面處於領先地位。

Thirdly, we have demonstrated historically. We have an ongoing opportunity to consolidate a fragment set of high-value end markets to drive significant revenue and cost synergies. And fourth, all while returning ample capital to shareholders. These strategies focus on driving long-term shareholder value, expanding our competitive advantages and delivering on our financial priorities to position Berry for long-term success.

三是歷史論證。我們有一個持續的機會來整合一系列高價值的終端市場，以推動顯著的收入和成本協同效應。第四，同時向股東返還充足的資本。這些戰略側重於推動長期股東價值、擴大我們的競爭優勢並實現我們的財務優先事項，以使 Berry 取得長期成功。

And finally, we are improving our cost structure in day-to-day operations, along with advancing our strategic priorities by taking the necessary actions to move Berry forward. We are dedicated to building on our progress, delivering greater value for our customers and shareholders and exiting 2023, a stronger, more focused Berry. When I close with how pleased I am with the hard work of our employees, delivering solid results in the face of persistent higher costs and a dynamic global economy. I thank you all for your continued interest in Berry.

最後，我們正在改善日常運營中的成本結構，同時通過採取必要行動推動 Berry 前進，推進我們的戰略重點。我們致力於在我們的進步的基礎上再接再厲，為我們的客戶和股東創造更大的價值，並在 2023 年成為更強大、更專注的 Berry。當我結束時，我對我們員工的辛勤工作感到非常高興，面對持續上漲的成本和充滿活力的全球經濟，他們取得了可觀的成果。我感謝大家對 Berry 的持續關注。

With that, Mark, and I'd be glad to answer any of your questions.

有了這個，馬克，我很樂意回答你的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Anthony Pettinari from Citi.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Anthony Pettinari。

Tom, in consumer, you sell into a lot of different markets, but I'm just wondering, when you look at the volume declines in the quarter, do you have a sense of how much of it was driven by sort of destocking versus real underlying demand weakness? And then without slicing it too thin, when you look back at the kind of 3 quarters -- 3 months of the quarter and then into April, May, do you get a sense that trends have worsened or stabilized or improved? Just any kind of commentary you can give there.

湯姆，在消費者領域，你向許多不同的市場銷售產品，但我只是想知道，當你看到本季度的銷量下降時，你是否知道其中有多少是由某種去庫存驅動的，而不是實際驅動的潛在需求疲軟？然後，不要把它切得太細，當你回顧 3 個季度——該季度的 3 個月，然後進入 4 月、5 月，你是否感覺到趨勢已經惡化、穩定或改善？您可以在那裡提供任何類型的評論。

There's been a lot of discussion relative to the stickiness of this destocking phenomena. We would estimate that approximately 50% is tied to destocking initiatives right now. And clearly, with the focus on working capital, many of our end customers are putting huge priorities on the inventory levels that they are carrying right now. So for Berry, given the proximity of our sites to key end users around the world, it could be an advantage, but it certainly puts more pressure on us to turn the products faster.

關於這種去庫存現象的粘性，已經有很多討論。我們估計目前約有 50% 與去庫存計劃有關。顯然，在關注營運資金的情況下，我們的許多最終客戶都非常重視他們目前的庫存水平。因此，對於 Berry 而言，鑑於我們的網站靠近世界各地的主要最終用戶，這可能是一個優勢，但它肯定會給我們帶來更大的壓力，要求我們更快地推出產品。

I would say that in terms of our consumer packaging space, food and beverage continue to be what I would describe as relatively stable. They are certainly been offset by some weaknesses in our industrial businesses. But I would also concur that this phenomena destocking can't last forever. But in our guide, we are assuming no real change in that market growth dynamic in the back half of the year with the exception of us benefiting from some more favorable comps in quarter 3 and quarter 4.

我想說的是，就我們的消費品包裝空間而言，食品和飲料仍然是我所說的相對穩定的。它們肯定被我們工業企業的一些弱點所抵消。但我也同意這種去庫存現像不會永遠持續下去。但在我們的指南中，我們假設今年下半年市場增長動力沒有真正的變化，除了我們在第三季度和第四季度從一些更有利的競爭中受益。

Okay. That's very helpful. And then just in April, May, kind of any stabilization improvement further weakening? Just any comment there.

好的。這很有幫助。然後就在 4 月、5 月，是否有任何穩定改善進一步減弱？那裡有任何評論。

Nothing we'd comment other than in the prior quarter just completed. We clearly saw a degradation in the back half of the quarter versus the front half. But again, our guide is basically assuming no real change. We chose to take that path given the lack of transparency in terms of that longer-term outlook.

除了剛剛完成的上一季度之外，我們沒有任何評論。我們清楚地看到本季度後半段與前半段相比有所下降。但同樣，我們的指南基本上假設沒有真正的變化。鑑於長期前景缺乏透明度，我們選擇了這條道路。

And we have a question from Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs.

高盛的亞當·薩繆爾森 (Adam Samuelson) 提出了一個問題。

I guess maybe first, I think today, I'm thinking about the moving pieces of the quarter and then the outlook. Is it fair to calibrate that volume expectations for the back half of the year have moderated? And I imagine as well as the second quarter volumes themselves were softer.

我想也許首先，我想今天，我正在考慮本季度的變化，然後是前景。校準今年下半年的銷量預期已經緩和是否公平？我想以及第二季度的銷量本身都比較疲軟。

You're mitigating that with the cost actions that you've kind of announced and expect to realize decent chunk of the savings from this year. And as well, price cost has maybe proven stickier and a little bit more of a tailwind than you'd previously calibrated to get to the full year outlook unchanged. I just want to make sure I've got the key moving pieces there, while kind of balanced properly.

你正在通過你已經宣布的成本行動來減輕這種情況，並期望從今年開始實現相當大的節省。同樣，價格成本可能已被證明比您之前為保持全年前景不變而進行的校準更具粘性和順風性。我只是想確保我有關鍵的移動部件，同時適當地平衡。

Yes. I think from a demand perspective, you saw this in the quarter just completed. Overall, our demand is going to look very similar to large CPG global customers we serve. And we saw that in the quarter just recently completed. And as Anthony -- just shared with Anthony, we expect similar customer demand in the back half of the year with the exception, again, of the more favorable comps and some start-up of new assets that will benefit from in the last quarter -- last 2 quarters.

是的。我認為從需求的角度來看，你在剛剛完成的季度看到了這一點。總體而言，我們的需求看起來與我們服務的大型 CPG 全球客戶非常相似。我們在最近完成的季度中看到了這一點。正如安東尼 - 剛剛與安東尼分享的那樣，我們預計今年下半年會有類似的客戶需求，除了更有利的補償和一些將在上個季度受益的新資產啟動 - - 最後兩個季度。

Relative to price and inflation, there's still more work to do. Clearly, the majority of our resin is tied to escalator -- de-escalators. But on the other raw material side, there continues to be opportunities. We have taken the (inaudible) earlier on the year, as we noted, relative to sharpening our pencil in terms of our overall footprint with the shutting of 15 facilities continuing to invest further in automation. And then our ongoing focus and attention as a company on continuous improvement in all things, especially service cost, quality and the likes to optimize those. So I think you got it right.

相對於價格和通貨膨脹，還有更多的工作要做。顯然，我們的大部分樹脂都與自動扶梯 - 自動扶梯相連。但在其他原材料方面，仍然存在機會。正如我們所指出的，我們在今年早些時候採取了（聽不清）相對於在我們的整體足跡方面削尖我們的鉛筆，關閉 15 個設施繼續進一步投資於自動化。然後我們作為一家公司持續關注和關注所有事情的持續改進，特別是服務成本、質量等，以優化這些。所以我認為你做對了。

Okay. That's very helpful. And then just by region, as we think about that demand in points taken on you're matching your customers, any maybe distinction between some of your consumer CPG-oriented businesses versus more industrial cyclical areas and changes in order patterns or distinctions on growth and demand between some of the different channels that you have?

好的。這很有幫助。然後就地區而言，當我們考慮到你正在匹配你的客戶時所採取的點的需求，你的一些面向消費者的 CPG 業務與更多的工業周期性領域之間的任何可能區別以及訂單模式的變化或增長和區別你有一些不同渠道之間的需求嗎？

So what we saw in the first half here. We're anticipating in the back half of the year is, again, relatively more stable food and beverage demand, offset by weaknesses in what would we describe as more of the industrial market, if you will.

所以我們在上半場看到了什麼。我們預計今年下半年食品和飲料需求將再次相對穩定，但如果您願意的話，我們將稱之為更多工業市場的疲軟所抵消。

Our next question comes from Kieran De Brun with Mizuho Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞穗證券的 Kieran De Brun。

Maybe just on EM, it seems like the pricing to value and improving mix is starting to flow through the portfolio now. Maybe you could just talk a little bit more about that. I think you mentioned the growth from 25% to 45% of higher-value products. But as we think forward to the back half of the year, understanding that there is destocking and then some volume weakness there. But as we think about the back half of the year and maybe it's preliminary, but 2024, like how do you perceive that kind of growing and trending over the next 12 to 18 months?

也許只是在新興市場，似乎價值定價和改進組合現在開始在投資組合中流動。也許你可以多談談這個。我想你提到了高價值產品從 25% 增長到 45%。但是當我們展望今年下半年時，我們了解到存在去庫存，然後那裡出現了一些銷量疲軟。但是當我們考慮今年下半年，也許它是初步的，但是 2024 年，你如何看待未來 12 到 18 個月的這種增長和趨勢？

Well, first, we're very proud of the work Engineered Materials have done with a concentrated effort, both commercially as well as through capital investment to pivot more of our products to be quote higher valued. And that move from around 25% to now 45%. It is significant. It's interesting when you break out Engineered Materials, the North American base of the business performed very similar to our CP North America business in terms of demand.

嗯，首先，我們為 Engineered Materials 集中精力所做的工作感到非常自豪，無論是在商業上還是通過資本投資來推動我們更多的產品獲得更高的報價。這從大約 25% 增加到現在的 45%。這很重要。有趣的是，當你打破工程材料時，北美業務基地在需求方面與我們的 CP 北美業務非常相似。

The European business was more pressure tied to what is ongoing restructuring that we're doing and the pairing off of lower margin business that we serve in that geography. We'll continue our investment focus around higher performance films, mix improvement and the business has demonstrated a fantastic ability to offset inflationary price. And remember, this is 1 of our more transactional businesses. So we talk about the destocking phenomena. It plays a role in this business because 60-plus percent is served through distribution.

歐洲業務的壓力更大，與我們正在進行的重組以及我們在該地區服務的低利潤業務的配對有關。我們將繼續將投資重點放在更高性能的電影、混合改進上，並且該業務已展示出抵消通脹價格的出色能力。請記住，這是我們更多的交易業務之一。所以我們談論去庫存現象。它在這項業務中發揮著重要作用，因為 60% 以上是通過分銷服務的。

Again, similarly, our customers put a little more burden on us to make certain that we can have quicker turnarounds so that they can focus on their working capital. We've been able to do that well. And as you saw, both from our cash outlook as well as our earnings outlook for the full year, I'm very comfortable with Engineered Materials in the areas of focus that they're making a change the mix of business to a greater percentage of higher performance films, smaller component of more commoditized transactional products, and they've made great progress, as you can see from the move from 25% to now 45% since 2018.

同樣，我們的客戶再次給我們增加了一些負擔，以確保我們可以更快地周轉，以便他們可以專注於營運資金。我們已經能夠很好地做到這一點。正如你所看到的，無論是從我們的現金前景還是我們全年的盈利前景來看，我對工程材料公司在重點領域感到非常滿意，因為他們正在改變業務組合，以提高更高性能的電影，更商品化交易產品的更小組成部分，並且它們取得了很大進步，正如您從 2018 年以來從 25% 上升到現在的 45% 所看到的那樣。

And it looks like our next question comes from Michael Roxland from Truist Securities.

看起來我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Michael Roxland。

Congrats on a very good quarter. Just want to get your thoughts on this weaker demand environment. And obviously, that's led you to become more aggressive with your cost reduction between closing facilities. How much more runway do you think -- well and what it makes it differently. (inaudible) similar kinds of opportunities [just] exist in the current portfolio similar to what you just did with those 15 facilities.

祝賀一個非常好的季度。只想了解您對這種疲軟需求環境的看法。顯然，這導致您在關閉設施之間降低成本方面變得更加積極。你認為還有多少跑道——好吧，它有什麼不同。 （聽不清）類似的機會 [just] 存在於當前的投資組合中，類似於您剛剛對這 15 個設施所做的。

Yes, we have an additional pipeline of facilities that we're giving consideration to, some of which we'll be able to execute on here in (inaudible) But we're a large portfolio. And as I stated in our prepared comments, I couldn't be more excited about -- actually the addition of our capital allocation committee and to our Board of Directors.

是的，我們有一個額外的設施管道，我們正在考慮，其中一些我們將能夠在這裡執行（聽不清）但我們是一個龐大的投資組合。正如我在準備好的評論中所說，我非常興奮——實際上是我們的資本分配委員會和董事會的增加。

Our company has always had an intense focus on shareholder value creation, and it's even that much more intense now with the full Board's participating on that committee, exploring opportunities across our portfolio to do what we've talked about, which is if there's aspects of our portfolio that we ultimately see less value in as Berry, but perceive there may be more value elsewhere, and if we could use those proceeds to drive our capital allocation strategy relative to either deleveraging, accessing faster-growing end markets or geographies, that's all ahead of us.

我們公司一直非常關注股東價值的創造，現在更是如此，整個董事會都參與了該委員會，在我們的投資組合中探索機會來做我們所說的事情，如果有的話我們的投資組合最終認為 Berry 的價值較低，但認為其他地方可能有更多價值，如果我們可以利用這些收益來推動我們的資本配置策略，而不是去槓桿化、進入增長更快的終端市場或地區，僅此而已在我們前面。

And I have nothing to report today in terms of where we're at with that, that I can share. But suffice to say, it's a focus. We just completed our last board meeting, and I'm confident that this will be an area of opportunity for our company that again exponentially supports our objectives around consistent, predictable growth, earnings and free cash flow generation for Berry.

今天我沒有什麼可以分享的關於我們所處的位置的報告。但足以說，這是一個重點。我們剛剛結束了上一次董事會會議，我相信這對我們公司來說將是一個機遇領域，它再次以指數方式支持我們圍繞 Berry 持續、可預測的增長、收益和自由現金流產生的目標。

Got it. And then just 1 quick question on revenue costs. Obviously, they increased during the last quarter. You guys did a good job offsetting [revenue cost.] Wondering there was a larger acceleration in revenue during the end of the quarter. So I'm just trying to -- help me frame how well we should flow through the P&L for the duration of the year?

知道了。然後是關於收入成本的 1 個快速問題。顯然，他們在上個季度有所增加。你們在抵消[收入成本]方面做得很好。想知道本季度末收入有更大的加速。所以我只是想 - 幫助我確定我們應該如何在這一年的時間里通過損益表流動？

Flow through of the resin increase that we...

我們增加了樹脂的流量...

Yes. No. In the U.S., right, we saw 1 of our primary raw materials, that mean polypropylene went up pretty dramatically over the last several months. Still early to assess that, but it appears that though that increase is going to come back out pretty quickly, just as quickly as it went in. But needless to say that will move a little bit of our earnings quarter-to-quarter. All of that is assumed in our guide that we just provided. But yes, certainly, it might provide some timing from Q3 into Q4, positively into Q4 and a little bit of headwind just from timing of pass-through here, as we said in Q3.

是的。不。在美國，對，我們看到了我們的一種主要原材料，這意味著聚丙烯在過去幾個月里大幅上漲。評估這一點還為時過早，但似乎儘管這種增長將很快恢復，就像它進入時一樣快。但不用說，這將對我們的收入進行一些季度調整。我們剛剛提供的指南中假設了所有這些。但是，是的，當然，它可能會提供從第三季度到第四季度的一些時間，積極地進入第四季度，並且只是從這里傳遞的時間來看有點逆風，正如我們在第三季度所說的那樣。

But typically, Q3 is our seasonally strongest quarter. Q4 is usually a close second this year. I think they'll be very similarly, but could be a little bit inverted, where Q4 is a little stronger from earnings perspective, just given that dynamic that you just asked about.

但通常情況下，第三季度是我們季節性最強的季度。今年第四季度通常緊隨其後。我認為它們會非常相似，但可能會有點顛倒，從收益的角度來看，第四季度會更強一些，只是考慮到你剛才問的那種動態。

And our next question comes from Arun Viswanathan with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Arun Viswanathan。

Yes. Great. Good quarter this quarter. Just wondering, you weren't necessarily able to raise the guidance that much. So is the volume still on track for the rest of the quarter? Do you see a recovery in the second half?

是的。偉大的。本季度表現良好。只是想知道，您不一定能夠將指導提高那麼多。那麼本季度剩餘時間的交易量是否仍在軌道上？你認為下半年會有所復甦嗎？

We budgeted and our outlook assumes relatively consistent volume from the front half to the back half with the exception of the benefit of a -- or comparable in prior year that will benefit us in the back half coupled with the introduction of new capital investments that will become commercial benefiting us. But yes, we are comfortable in the outlook and the guide.

我們制定了預算，我們的前景假設從前半部分到後半部分的銷量相對一致，除了 - 或可比的前一年將使我們在後半部分受益，同時引入新的資本投資將成為使我們受益的商業。但是，是的，我們對前景和指南感到滿意。

And it's not -- it's -- we chose the path to not assume anything changes significantly from a market dynamic perspective, that which we can't control. We're going to look and we're going to perform a lot like our global brands that we have up to this point, and I'm confident both and that will execute here in '23. And I think what's probably more encouraging for me is just the set up we have in terms of '24 and beyond, both in terms of our structure, our capital investment, our capital allocation priorities, what we've done and what we're doing and what we're executing against.

而且它不是 - 它 - 我們選擇了不假設從市場動態角度來看我們無法控制的任何重大變化的路徑。我們將看起來並且我們將表現得像我們迄今為止擁有的全球品牌一樣，我相信這兩者都將在 23 年在這裡執行。而且我認為對我來說更令人鼓舞的可能只是我們在 24 世紀及以後的設置，無論是在我們的結構、我們的資本投資、我們的資本分配優先事項、我們所做的和我們正在做的事情方面正在做的事情以及我們正在執行的事情。

And I think as you saw Mark referenced, the consistency of the deliverable on our key metrics, both in terms of EPS over the last 10 years, as well as what we're doing around earnings and free cash flow generation as we have consistently should give investors great confidence that regardless of the economic environment, Berry delivers, and we've delivered it consistently as a publicly traded company.

我認為正如你看到馬克提到的那樣，我們關鍵指標的可交付成果的一致性，無論是過去 10 年的每股收益，還是我們在收益和自由現金流生成方面所做的工作，正如我們一直應該做的那樣讓投資者充滿信心，無論經濟環境如何，Berry 都能交付，而且我們作為一家上市公司始終如一地交付。

And just as a quick follow-up. Are you in a position to return to low single-digit volume growth next year?

就像快速跟進一樣。您能否在明年恢復到較低的個位數銷量增長？

We're going to return to low single-digit growth. We're making the capital investment associated with it. Our performance is completely aligned with our brands and we're doing business with the brands around the world. The value proposition we're bringing in terms of our geographic presence, our increased exposure to emerging markets, the increased level of capital expenditures that we've been deploying puts us in a fantastic position to change and to ultimately grow consistently in the low single digits.

我們將回到低個位數增長。我們正在進行與之相關的資本投資。我們的業績與我們的品牌完全一致，我們與世界各地的品牌開展業務。我們在我們的地域存在、我們對新興市場的敞口增加、我們一直在部署的資本支出水平增加方面帶來的價值主張使我們處於一個極好的位置來改變並最終在低單一市場持續增長數字。

Our next question comes from Angel Castillo from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Angel Castillo。

Congrats on the strong quarter. Just maybe I want to start out on price cost. I just wanted to double check, I guess, you have 2 strong quarters of price cost performance. I think on 1Q, you indicated $125 million was kind of the expectation for the year. Could you just, I guess, update us, I don't know if I missed it earlier, but what that stands at in terms of kind of the assumption for the year will be now for price cost?

祝賀強勁的季度。也許我想從價格成本開始。我只是想仔細檢查一下，我猜你有 2 個季度的性價比。我認為在第一季度，您表示 1.25 億美元是今年的預期。我猜你能不能給我們更新一下，我不知道我是否早點錯過了，但是就今年的假設而言，現在的價格成本是多少？

Yes, sure. Thanks for the question. Yes, we've increased that roughly $50 million to about $170 million as a result of additional cost actions that the company's taken since the last earnings call. And as Tom said, a big part of our cost save will hit here in '23, but there will also be $40 million or so carryover into '24.

是的，當然。謝謝你的問題。是的，由於公司自上次財報電話會議以來採取的額外成本行動，我們已將大約 5000 萬美元增加到大約 1.7 億美元。正如湯姆所說，我們節省的大部分成本將在 23 年實現，但也將有 4000 萬美元左右結轉到 24 年。

That's very helpful. And then I just wanted to follow-up on the discussion around volumes for the year and destocking. If I'm -- I just want to clarify if I'm understanding this correctly. I guess the assumption is that you don't anticipate destocking to abate just given maybe similar second half to first half market conditions.

這很有幫助。然後我只想跟進有關今年銷量和去庫存的討論。如果我——我只是想澄清一下我是否理解正確。我猜的假設是，鑑於下半年與上半年的市場狀況可能相似，您預計去庫存不會減少。

One, did I hear that correctly? And then I guess what are you hearing from your customers, I guess, that maybe doesn't indicate the destocking abate? And then kind of as a follow-up to just a lot more color on the commentary around operating perhaps needing to be more real time just given the proximity with the customers and maybe what the pressures are on the business and kind of the implications of that, that would be helpful.

第一，我沒聽錯嗎？然後我猜你從你的客戶那裡聽到了什麼，我猜，這可能並不表明去庫存減弱？然後有點像關於運營的評論的更多顏色的後續行動，可能需要更實時，因為與客戶的距離很近，可能對業務有什麼壓力以及這種影響，那會有幫助。

[I think] you are right. We anticipate little change in the behavior relative to destocking. But frankly, we also realized it can't continue forever. We'll get to a normalized demand environment. So I think as that happens, you'll see more of an order inventory balance. That said, we're a short-cycle business. We deliver with short lead times today and we do believe clearly that the benefit of our plants being in close proximity to our customers is an advantage both from a service perspective and, frankly, as well as a sustainability perspective.

[我想你是對的。我們預計與去庫存相關的行為變化不大。但坦率地說，我們也意識到它不可能永遠持續下去。我們將進入一個標準化的需求環境。所以我認為當這種情況發生時，您會看到更多的訂單庫存餘額。也就是說，我們是一家短週期企業。我們今天的交付時間很短，而且我們確實清楚地相信，無論是從服務角度，還是坦率地說，從可持續發展的角度來看，我們的工廠靠近客戶的好處都是一個優勢。

The whole dynamic on destocking has changed, right? Through the pandemic, it was more is better to give me what I need when I need it, and shortages drove those overstock. And today, it's more around fickle customers and understanding by our brands, what exactly they're going to want, what's going to have to sell through, what's going to be promoted and in some instances, people just were having a very heavy focus on working capital to focus under inventory levels, and it ultimately is -- it's something we've seen before, and we'll manage through comfortably. But I wouldn't describe it as a pressure. It's just an elevated heightened awareness of that being a requirement to delight our customers, which we'll do.

去庫存的整個動力已經改變，對吧？通過大流行，最好在我需要的時候給我我需要的東西，而短缺導致那些積壓。而今天，它更多地圍繞著變化無常的客戶和我們品牌的理解，他們到底想要什麼，必須銷售什麼，將要推廣什麼，在某些情況下，人們只是非常關注將營運資金集中在庫存水平下，最終是——這是我們以前見過的事情，我們會輕鬆應對。但我不會將其描述為壓力。這只是提高了對滿足客戶要求的認識，我們會這樣做。

Our next question comes from Philip Ng with Jefferies LLC.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies LLC 的 Philip Ng。

This is John Lynn again on for Phil. I appreciate the insight and congrats on the solid quarter. I just wanted to first go back to your comments about the new business wins that are going to be flowing through in the second half. On the buying side, are you able to quantify the impact of that and provide some more details on what segments those will be flowing through? And then maybe you can just comment on confirming if those new business wins are locked in and have firm customer commitments and maybe what kind of level those are sold out at? What kind of percentage that is?

這是 John Lynn 再次代表 Phil。我感謝您的洞察力，並祝賀這個季度的穩健發展。我只想先回到你對下半年將要湧現的新業務勝利的評論。在買方方面，您是否能夠量化其影響並提供更多有關這些將流經哪些細分市場的詳細信息？然後也許你可以評論確認這些新的業務勝利是否被鎖定並有堅定的客戶承諾，也許這些是在什麼樣的水平上售罄的？那是什麼樣的百分比？

Sure. Yes. I think Tom referenced a couple of those in his prepared comments. But as a reminder, we've got a new site for health care packaging in India in Bangalore that is commercial now. And we have a new health care nonwovens line in China, also commercialized recently. Food service capacity is going in over the balance of calendar '23. So it's coming on in increments as opposed to -- on a more aggregate basis. Our new recycling facility in the U.K., also recently commercialized.

當然。是的。我認為 Tom 在他準備好的評論中引用了其中的一些內容。但提醒一下，我們在印度班加羅爾有一個新的醫療保健包裝站點，該站點現已投入使用。我們在中國有一條新的醫療保健非織造布生產線，最近也商業化了。餐飲服務能力將超過日曆 '23 的餘額。所以它是以增量方式出現的，而不是——在更聚合的基礎上。我們在英國的新回收設施最近也商業化了。

So unfortunately, we're already halfway through '23, hard to believe we (inaudible) but they're commercializing now, but obviously, the impact on '23 will not be significant and will be more substantial in '24 and '25. But we're excited. We've got a lot of great new assets coming online literally now and over the next couple of months and quarters. And so yes, those are going to all be significant contributors to both our top line and bottom line as we look forward.

所以不幸的是，我們已經過了 23 年的一半，很難相信我們（聽不清）但他們現在正在商業化，但顯然，對 23 年的影響不會很大，而在 24 年和 25 年會更大。但我們很興奮。現在以及接下來的幾個月和幾個季度，我們有很多很棒的新資產上線。所以是的，正如我們期待的那樣，這些都將成為我們的收入和利潤的重要貢獻者。

You could see in the presentation materials, just as a snapshot of some of the customers that we'll be supporting at these facilities. With Leamington Spa and Bangalore, I would frankly anticipate our -- over the next several quarters early on into next year that our Board will be asked to consider additional circular facilities in Europe and frankly, and potentially in the United States as well. The success of Leamington Spa, the customer reached activity, the ability to link with those customers to provide them circular solutions real-time with premium quality has exceeded our expectations.

您可以在演示材料中看到我們將在這些設施中支持的一些客戶的快照。對於 Leamington Spa 和班加羅爾，我坦率地預計我們的 - 在接下來的幾個季度到明年年初，我們的董事會將被要求考慮在歐洲和坦率地說，並可能在美國增加循環設施。 Leamington Spa 的成功、客戶的活躍度、與這些客戶聯繫以實時為他們提供優質循環解決方案的能力超出了我們的預期。

Similarly, the pipeline of opportunity in India, a recently opened facility in Bangalore to support health care and pharmaceutical primarily is likely to similarly require consideration for additional expansion on that site, where we have the facility and capability to do that. And as Mark said, we continue to have just exceptional performance inside our food service space. And with our new facility in Sarasota opened up at the end of our fiscal year, it will give us more capacity to fulfill our demand on polypropylene cups, lids. But I similarly believe that additional capacity will probably be warranted there as well. So it's an exciting time.

同樣，印度的機會管道，最近在班加羅爾開設的一個主要支持醫療保健和製藥的設施，可能同樣需要考慮在我們有設施和能力的地方進一步擴展。正如馬克所說，我們在餐飲服務領域繼續保持卓越的表現。隨著我們在薩拉索塔的新工廠在本財年結束時投入使用，這將使我們有更多的能力來滿足我們對聚丙烯杯子和蓋子的需求。但我同樣認為，那裡也可能需要額外的容量。所以這是一個激動人心的時刻。

We've got structural changes that we're making in '23, we've got a pipeline of business that we're enjoying, that's consistent with the performance of our key brands in '23. We've got opportunities to expand our footprint geographically. We're making the necessary capital investments at our customer link to ultimately, again, support that objective of that consistent predictable organic growth that we are firmly committed to. And again, it supports that resiliency we talk about and have proven track record of revenue, operating EBITDA, adjusted EPS, adjusted free cash flow of the company that is enjoyed for some time. And it gives us the confidence that we'll execute against it.

我們在 23 年進行了結構性變革，我們擁有一系列我們正在享受的業務，這與我們主要品牌在 23 年的表現一致。我們有機會在地理上擴大我們的足跡。我們正在我們的客戶鏈接上進行必要的資本投資，最終再次支持我們堅定致力於實現的一致可預測有機增長的目標。再一次，它支持我們談論的彈性，並且已經證明了公司在一段時間內的收入、運營 EBITDA、調整後的每股收益、調整後的自由現金流量的記錄。它讓我們有信心執行它。

Our next question comes from Ghansham Panjabi with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Ghansham Panjabi。

I guess, first off, Tom, maybe you can expand on the structural cost reduction initiatives you're executing on? How are the 15 plants weighted towards the various segments? And also, what is the commonality behind the plants that you're rationalizing?

我想，首先，湯姆，也許你可以擴展你正在執行的結構性成本削減計劃？這 15 家工廠在各個細分市場中的權重如何？而且，您正在合理化的植物背後的共性是什麼？

We review and the various 1 thing has a great benefit of tons of data. If we have opportunities based on productivity and potentially more modern facilities to consolidate business under rooftop, it's an active part of the review that we do on a regular basis. And again, this has been part of our longer-term plan. We were fortunate to execute against 15 sites. We've got additional plants that we're considering. And it's all about what puts us in the best position geographically and from a cost perspective to serve our customer basis most effectively.

我們審查了各種 1 件事，從大量數據中受益匪淺。如果我們有機會基於生產力和可能更現代化的設施來鞏固屋頂下的業務，這就是我們定期進行的審查的積極組成部分。同樣，這已成為我們長期計劃的一部分。我們有幸執行了 15 個站點。我們還有其他正在考慮的工廠。這一切都是關於什麼使我們在地理上和成本方面處於最佳位置，以最有效地為我們的客戶提供服務。

So for example, our benefit of the footprint we have in Europe, the ability to load more business in Eastern Europe, a lower-cost geography to serve Western Europe is a great opportunity, an opportunity to load more business in India to serve Central Asia is still a great opportunity for us and using plants in Mexico to serve parts of North America, similarly, are benefits for ourselves. We're taking advantage of that global footprint for Berry, finding what makes best sense in terms of return, service, quality and the modernization of the infrastructure that's investable to give us these opportunities to shrink that overall footprint without compromising cost or service.

因此，例如，我們受益於我們在歐洲的足跡，能夠在東歐加載更多業務，服務西歐的低成本地理是一個很好的機會，一個在印度加載更多業務以服務中亞的機會對我們來說仍然是一個很好的機會，利用墨西哥的工廠為北美部分地區服務，同樣，對我們自己也是有好處的。我們正在利用 Berry 的全球足跡，尋找在回報、服務、質量和可投資的基礎設施現代化方面最有意義的方法，從而為我們提供這些機會，在不影響成本或服務的情況下縮小整體足跡。

Okay. Just as a follow-up to that. What was the last time the company went through such a rationalization initiative? And then lastly, as you think about volumes based on your own expectations for fiscal year '23, where do you think volumes by segment will end up relative to the pre-COVID baseline? There's just so much noise the last 3 years. Just curious as to how you're thinking about that.

好的。就像後續行動一樣。公司上一次實施此類合理化舉措是什麼時候？最後，當您根據自己對 23 財年的預期來考慮銷量時，您認為各細分市場的銷量最終會相對於 COVID 之前的基線達到什麼水平？在過去的 3 年裡，噪音太大了。只是好奇你是怎麼想的。

Well, yes, I got something, I think, testing my memory, I guess on both of those. Seems like pandemic was -- pre-pandemic was a long time ago. I guess on the footprint consolidation, I'd say it's something we've done typically associated with acquisitions. As we bought businesses that maybe have 6 locations, 1 of which is close to 1 of Berry's existing facilities. We're able to combine those facilities to take advantage of a lower cost structure going forward. So we've certainly done it many times in my tenure. But again, they tend to be more associated with acquisitions.

好吧，是的，我想我得到了一些東西，測試我的記憶力，我猜是在這兩個方面。似乎大流行是——大流行前是很久以前的事了。我想在足跡整合方面，我會說這是我們所做的通常與收購相關的事情。因為我們購買了可能有 6 個地點的企業，其中 1 個靠近 Berry 的現有設施之一。我們能夠將這些設施結合起來，以利用未來成本更低的結構。所以在我的任期內，我們確實做過很多次。但同樣，它們往往與收購有關。

What certainly in this case, has that same dynamic with the RPC combination. And back to your earlier question, all 4 segments are participating in this opportunity to reduce our cost structure. And relative to volumes, pre-pandemic, which I think was another part of your question. I probably need to think about that a little bit. I mean my quick reaction is probably pretty similar in the aggregate. But by business, could look a little different when you peel the onion back a little bit, but my doubt would be pretty similar.

在這種情況下，當然與 RPC 組合具有相同的動態。回到你之前的問題，所有 4 個部門都參與了這個機會來降低我們的成本結構。相對於大流行前的數量，我認為這是你問題的另一部分。我可能需要考慮一下。我的意思是我的快速反應總體上可能非常相似。但是從業務上講，當您將洋蔥剝開一點時，看起來可能會有所不同，但我的懷疑非常相似。

Our next question comes from George Staphos from Bank of America Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行證券公司的 George Staphos。

Hi, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the details. And congratulations on the progress. Tom, Mark, you talked a lot about on this call rightly on focus and the new capital allocation committee and the benefits you hope to get from that and that focus. Can you talk to us and perhaps reaffirm some things I thought I heard you say about the areas of the portfolio that may over time, move out of Berry.

大家好。早上好。感謝您提供詳細信息。並祝賀你取得的進步。湯姆、馬克，你在這次電話會議上談到了很多關於焦點和新的資本分配委員會的問題，以及你希望從那個焦點中獲得的好處。你能不能和我們談談，也許重申一些我想我聽到你說過的關於投資組合領域的一些事情，這些領域可能會隨著時間的推移離開 Berry。

One, is it your anticipation that your divestitures, if you will, or disinvestment in some of these areas is able to fund your growth elsewhere. Relatedly, if you can quantify to the extent possible, what are some of the metrics that you're looking at either in terms of volume growth margin return? How are you trying to evaluate your portfolio to see what stays and what goes, again, to the extent that you can quantify that would be great. And as you go through that process, as I look at Slide 18 and those growth targets that you have, that we really appreciate that you've put back -- that you put into the deck over the last couple of quarters. What do you think that focus and that approach on the portfolio is going to add incrementally to your growth, to your margin, to your return, any quantification would be great.

第一，您是否預期您的資產剝離（如果您願意）或在其中一些領域的撤資能夠為您在其他地方的增長提供資金。相關地，如果您可以盡可能量化，那麼您在銷量增長利潤率回報方面正在考慮的一些指標是什麼？你如何嘗試評估你的投資組合，看看哪些會留下來，哪些會消失，再次，在你可以量化的範圍內，這將是很好的。當你經歷這個過程時，當我看到幻燈片 18 和你擁有的那些增長目標時，我們非常感謝你在過去幾個季度中放回了這些目標。您認為對投資組合的關注和方法將逐步增加您的增長、利潤率和回報，任何量化都會很棒。

Yes. I think, George, from a metric perspective, I mean, I think you hit a lot of the key ones. I mean, I would summarize it as growth returns and synergies. And by synergies, I guess, I connect to how they tie in to the rest of the portfolio. We have various products, markets, et cetera, that have various connectivity and therefore, are more valuable as part of our company. I'd say all 3 of those things are -- or things you certainly (inaudible) as we evaluate our portfolio and always have.

是的。我認為，喬治，從度量的角度來看，我的意思是，我認為你擊中了很多關鍵點。我的意思是，我將其總結為增長回報和協同效應。我想，通過協同作用，我可以了解它們如何與投資組合的其餘部分聯繫起來。我們擁有各種產品、市場等，它們具有各種連接性，因此作為我們公司的一部分更有價值。我想說所有這 3 件事都是——或者你肯定（聽不清）的事情，因為我們評估我們的投資組合併且一直都有。

And are there any sort of hurdle rates or thresholds quantification market you could throw there, recognizing it's a broad portfolio, it's hard to be single point. But how would you help us think about the numbers in terms of guardrails on that? Sorry.

是否有任何類型的門檻率或門檻量化市場你可以扔在那裡，認識到它是一個廣泛的投資組合，很難成為單點。但是你會如何幫助我們考慮護欄方面的數字？對不起。

Yes. No, I mean, I don't think we want to be too objective, right, in terms of communicating that. But look, we've got a lot of metrics we look at. We've got goals that we want to achieve as a company. We just on our last call, communicated some very broad goals around EBITDA growth, EPS growth, and we've achieved those historically, and we're going to make sure we keep making the decisions to achieve those going forward.

是的。不，我的意思是，我認為我們不想過於客觀，對吧，就溝通而言。但是，看，我們有很多我們關注的指標。作為一家公司，我們有想要實現的目標。我們剛剛在最後一次電話會議上就 EBITDA 增長、EPS 增長傳達了一些非常廣泛的目標，我們已經實現了這些歷史目標，我們將確保我們繼續做出決策以實現這些目標。

And I think, George, 1 of your questions was will the proceeds of some of these divestitures ultimately fund growth elsewhere? And I'd answer, absolutely. This provides that vehicle for us to look at our entire capital allocation wheel, determine what's going to bring and maximize shareholder value creation and apply those proceeds against that wheel. And that's something that's really exciting for us. And you talked about the influence of our Board and the creation of our capital allocation committee. And the intensity we've always had around return of shareholder value creation and this heightened focus around -- we talk about investing in faster growing markets, fully supported by our Board, fully supported by our capital allocation committee, increasing our emerging markets presence ultimately make our growth more consistent, more further support from the Capital Allocation Committee and from our Board of Directors.

我認為，喬治，你的第一個問題是這些資產剝離的收益最終會為其他地方的增長提供資金嗎？我肯定會回答。這為我們提供了一個工具來查看我們的整個資本配置輪，確定將帶來什麼並最大限度地創造股東價值，並將這些收益用於該輪。這對我們來說真的很令人興奮。你談到了我們董事會的影響和我們資本分配委員會的成立。我們一直對股東價值創造的回報充滿熱情，並且高度關注——我們談論投資於增長更快的市場，得到我們董事會的全力支持，得到我們資本分配委員會的全力支持，最終增加我們在新興市場的影響力使我們的增長更加穩定，得到資本配置委員會和董事會的更多支持。

The investments we've made in sustainability innovation, the fact that we're queuing up these investments to prime the pump, if you will, to make certain that the portfolio is best aligned to support our metrics that we measure ourselves against and that we've consistently delivered against well into the future has been critical. I think it's been a very strong part of and a new addition to our Berry team.

我們在可持續發展創新方面所做的投資，事實上我們正在排隊這些投資來啟動泵，如果你願意的話，以確保投資組合最符合我們衡量自己的指標，並且我們始終如一地兌現良好的未來至關重要。我認為它是我們 Berry 團隊的重要組成部分，也是新成員。

So it should add to your growth then, would you say?

所以它應該會增加你的成長，你會說嗎？

Pardon?

赦免？

So that wheel -- so that process should add to the growth rate that you have on your wheel?

那麼那個輪子——那個過程應該增加你輪子上的增長率嗎？

It's just supported -- absolutely, to drive that consistency, George, for sure.

它只是得到支持——絕對是為了推動這種一致性，喬治，當然。

Our next question comes from Michael Leithead from Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Michael Leithead。

Just 2 quick ones on HH&S. First, it looks like volume in the first half is down about 8% or 9% on negative comps. So is there is still some COVID normalization? Or what else is going on there? And then second, why was that the only system that had negative price cost spread? Is that because of the business' consumption of polypropylene or just what else is moving?

HH&S 上只有 2 個快速的。首先，上半年的銷量似乎下降了約 8% 或 9%。那麼還有一些 COVID 正常化嗎？或者那裡還發生了什麼？其次，為什麼這是唯一一個價格成本差為負的系統？這是因為企業對聚丙烯的消耗，還是因為其他原因？

So the HHS business was primarily driven by the fact that the specialty markets, some of which is tied to building construction as well as things like filtration have been negatively impacted both from a pandemic surge perspective, to more normalized rate and then a softening based on interest rates in terms of the building dynamics in terms of new house and construction for house wraps. Those were very -- those are high-margin businesses and it's impacted the profitability inside HHS.

因此，HHS 業務的主要驅動力是，專業市場（其中一些與建築施工以及過濾等相關）受到了負面影響，無論是從大流行病激增的角度來看，還是更加正常化的利率，然後是基於新房和房屋包裝施工方面的建築動態利率。那些非常 - 那些是高利潤業務，它影響了 HHS 內部的盈利能力。

I'd also say that HHS, of all of our business, as you know, it enjoyed 2.5 years of historic success, both in terms of growth and profitability. And we all knew that at some point, we would return to a more normalized level of demand. That was in a "non-recessionary" high interest rate environment. Now that's been exacerbated by the fact that you've got return to a more normalized level and that the dynamics around destocking that we've talked about that have impacted the other segment that we enjoyed.

我還要說，在我們所有的業務中，HHS，如你所知，在增長和盈利方面都取得了 2.5 年的歷史性成功。我們都知道，在某個時候，我們會恢復到更正常的需求水平。那是在一個“非衰退”的高利率環境中。現在，由於您已經恢復到更正常的水平，並且我們已經討論過的去庫存動態影響了我們喜歡的其他部分，這一事實加劇了這種情況。

Just to give you a sense, during the pandemic, pool filtration, that business in terms of residential pools being built was up 533%. 533%. That's obviously going to come to a more normalized level. The system will work through, we'll get to a more normalized rate and then we will get back to a normal demand cycle for that business. But those are some of the factors that played into it.

只是為了讓您感覺，在大流行期間，泳池過濾方面，在建住宅泳池方面的業務增長了 533%。 533%。這顯然會達到一個更正常的水平。該系統將正常工作，我們將達到更正常的速度，然後我們將回到該業務的正常需求週期。但這些是其中的一些因素。

Yes. So big piece of it comes there was the comparable, we've got 1 more quarter of a tough comparable and then that business will be more apples-to-apples to prior year as we get into Q4.

是的。它的很大一部分是可比較的，我們還有一個季度的艱難可比較，然後當我們進入第四季度時，該業務將比去年同期更多。

Our next question comes from Josh Spector with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Josh Spector。

Just a couple of quick ones. This is with the acquisition you guys mentioned, can you comment how much EBITDA you're getting? And is that in the guidance? And just when you talked about divestments, funding, acquisitions, was that this one? Or did you mention that you expected to close another acquisition in the next couple of quarters?

只是幾個快速的。這是你們提到的收購，你們能評論一下你們獲得了多少 EBITDA 嗎？那是在指南中嗎？就在你談到撤資、融資、收購時，是這個嗎？或者您是否提到您希望在接下來的幾個季度內完成另一項收購？

Yes. On the last part, it was this particular acquisition that we expect to fund with proceeds from divestitures here in calendar '23. It was an $88 million purchase price, the returns were in line with what we've communicated to the market. So in the teens, from an EBITDA perspective, obviously, this year, we're only going to benefit from less than half the year or about half of the year. So you can do the math on that. So not significant relative to the overall company and didn't warrant changing our guidance range for fiscal '23, just given the small nature of it.

是的。在最後一部分，我們希望在 23 年日曆中用資產剝離的收益為這次特殊的收購提供資金。這是一個 8800 萬美元的購買價格，回報與我們向市場傳達的信息一致。所以在青少年時期，從 EBITDA 的角度來看，顯然，今年，我們只會從不到半年或大約一半的時間中受益。所以你可以計算一下。因此，相對於整個公司而言並不重要，也沒有理由改變我們對 23 財年的指導範圍，只是考慮到它的規模很小。

Got it. And just given your comments on volumes on your planning basis, do you anticipate any need to cut CapEx? Or do you plan to reduce some of that growth spend if volumes don't improve?

知道了。鑑於您在計劃基礎上對銷量的評論，您預計是否需要削減資本支出？或者，如果銷量沒有改善，您是否計劃減少部分增長支出？

Yes. I mean at this point, we're -- as you know, we've reaffirmed our $600 million CapEx guide. We've got a pipeline of projects, both on new opportunities like some of the ones we mentioned in categories like dispensing, health care, et cetera. We've also got a large pipeline of cost reductions, but the company continues to evaluate. Thankfully, we executed over the -- on those over the last 2 years. It's giving us the opportunity to get the cost benefits that we're realizing here in '23 and will again in '24. So we still got a big pipeline. So I don't expect a big change to our CapEx number as we look forward.

是的。我的意思是，在這一點上，我們——如你所知，我們已經重申了我們 6 億美元的資本支出指南。我們有一系列項目，都有新的機會，比如我們在配藥、醫療保健等類別中提到的一些項目。我們還有大量的成本削減渠道，但公司仍在繼續評估。值得慶幸的是，我們執行了 - 在過去 2 年的那些。它讓我們有機會獲得我們在 23 年在這裡實現並將在 24 年再次實現的成本效益。所以我們仍然有一個很大的管道。因此，我預計我們的資本支出數字不會像我們期待的那樣發生重大變化。

And it looks like our last question comes from Kyle White with Deutsche Bank.

看起來我們的最後一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Kyle White。

On the drink cups business, a lot of dynamics happening here. You're talking about adding capacity for this business. At the same time, some of the major QSRs talked about consumers potentially pulling back and visiting less frequently. And then another dynamic, because you have some of your fiber-based peers really looking at this market as a large opportunity. And so can you just talk about some of the moving dynamics there and maybe what you're seeing currently that gives you confidence to continue to add capacity here?

在飲料杯行業，這裡發生了很多動態。您正在談論為這項業務增加容量。與此同時，一些主要的 QSR 談到消費者可能會退縮並降低訪問頻率。然後是另一個動態，因為您有一些基於光纖的同行真正將這個市場視為一個巨大的機會。那麼，您能否談談那裡的一些動態變化，也許您目前看到的讓您有信心繼續在這裡增加產能？

Yes. The strategy we've been executing against for some time now is making customer link investments. So all the investments that we're making are linked to specific customers and committed demand. And we believe and we're very comfortable that, that capacity will meet and partially meet an existing need, but the likelihood of additional investment may be required.

是的。一段時間以來，我們一直在執行的策略是進行客戶鏈接投資。因此，我們正在進行的所有投資都與特定客戶和承諾的需求相關聯。我們相信並且我們對此感到非常滿意，這種能力將滿足並部分滿足現有需求，但可能需要額外投資。

When you mentioned the fiber-based substrates, the unique nuance in our application, it (inaudible) fully recyclable. There is nothing that can replace a clear cup and lid relative to the value add that's given when you can see the content of what you're consuming, our CPR -- our QSRs have recognized that. They see the value of that and the fact that it's fully recyclable, is an ongoing advantage. And I'm comfortable with the outline of the investments that we're making in new open of our new capacity in Florida. So very much looking forward to that. And again, as with all our CapEx, they are customer linked.

當你提到基於纖維的基材時，我們應用中的獨特細微差別，它（聽不清）完全可回收。沒有什麼可以替代透明杯子和蓋子相對於當您可以看到您正在消費的內容時所提供的附加值，我們的心肺復蘇術——我們的 QSR 已經認識到這一點。他們看到了它的價值以及它完全可回收的事實，這是一個持續的優勢。我對我們在佛羅里達州新產能的新開放中所做的投資大綱感到滿意。非常期待。同樣，與我們所有的資本支出一樣，它們與客戶相關聯。

Got it. That's helpful. And then on leverage, this year, you obviously stepped up the return to shareholders and leverage is going to be maintained or close about that at year-end. As you think about capital allocation longer term and into fiscal 2024, how do we think about that balance between buybacks and leverage? Do you -- should we expect leverage any excess cash to go to buybacks and you're keeping the leverage at this rate? Or do you see a need to prioritize deleveraging?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後在槓桿方面，今年，你顯然提高了對股東的回報，槓桿將在年底保持或關閉。當您考慮長期和 2024 財年的資本配置時，我們如何看待回購和槓桿之間的平衡？你 - 我們是否應該期望利用任何多餘的現金進行回購併且你將槓桿率保持在這個水平？或者您是否認為有必要優先考慮去槓桿化？

We will be -- by the end of '24, within our leverage range of 2.5x to 3.5x. We'll finish this year at 3.7x. And then relative to prioritization, it's 100% based on what's going to maximize shareholder value creation. Whatever is going to maximize and be the best return on our investment, given that particular time.

到 24 年底，我們將達到 2.5 倍至 3.5 倍的槓桿率範圍。今年我們將以 3.7 倍的速度結束。然後相對於優先級排序，它 100% 基於最大化股東價值創造的內容。給定特定的時間，無論什麼都能最大化並成為我們投資的最佳回報。

And I'm showing no further questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back to management for any closing remarks.

我不會在隊列中顯示更多問題。我想將電話轉回管理層以獲取任何結束語。

Well, I want to thank everybody for joining us today. I appreciate the time you spend the interest you've taken in Berry. We're cognizant that, this either challenging markets. We feel as a company we're taking the necessary steps to put us in a position to meet and deliver against our commitments and the resiliency and the proven track record of our portfolio. We believe, speaks for itself and it will going forward. We continue to believe this is an amazing opportunity for investment, given the entry point and the valuation for our shares today. Thanks, everybody. Look forward to the next call.

好吧，我要感謝大家今天加入我們。我感謝您花時間對 Berry 產生興趣。我們認識到，這要么是具有挑戰性的市場。我們覺得作為一家公司，我們正在採取必要的步驟，使我們能夠履行並兌現我們的承諾以及我們投資組合的彈性和可靠的記錄。我們相信，不言而喻，它會繼續前進。鑑於我們今天股票的切入點和估值，我們仍然相信這是一個絕佳的投資機會。謝謝大家。期待下次來電。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。